1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive door construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a door construction of this type is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, so that flanges formed at the outer peripheries of an inner panel 1 and an outer panel 2, are joined to each other, by which a door space 3 is formed between the panels 1 and 2.
The inner panel 1 is formed with a plurality of openings 4 which are used as installation work holes to arrange parts in the door space 3. The openings 4 are formed as small as possible in order to secure predetermined composition of the inner panel 1, and, in turn, the door construction itself.
Through this opening 4, a glass elevating mechanism 7 that is not fitted with a door glass 6 is slipped into the door space 3. After an attachment hole 8a provided in a guide rail 8 constituting the glass elevating mechanism 7 is caused to coincide with an attachment hole 1a provided in the inner panel 1, a screw 8c or the like is screwed in the attachment holes 8a and 1a, by which the glass elevating mechanism 7 is installed to the inner panel 1. In this case, the glass elevating mechanism 7 has a glass mount 8b disposed slidable in the guide rail 8 and a motor 10 for driving a wire 9 for sliding the glass mount 8b, so that the rotation of the motor 10 is transmitted to the wire 9, and thereby the glass mount 8b is slid along the guide rail 8, thereby the door glass 6 being moved up or down. Since the guide rail 8 and the motor 10 are connected to each other by the wire 9, the whole of the glass elevating mechanism 7 can be slipped into the door space 3 through one opening 4 by bending the wire 9.
Further, by screwing a screw or the like in an attachment hole 10a in the motor 10 and a motor attachment hole 2a formed in the inner panel 1, the motor 10 is mounted on the inner panel 1.
After the glass elevating mechanism 7 is installed to the inner panel 1, the lower end side of the glass 6 is inserted through an upper opening 5 of the door space 3 so that the glass 6 can move up and down in a sash 12 installed so as to extend into the interior of the door space 3. Holes y in a lower end mounting portion 6a of the glass 6 are caused to coincide with holes x in a glass mounting portions 8b slidably provided on the guide rails 8, and the glass 6 is fixed to the glass mounting portions 8b using screws or the like by inserting a screwdriver or the like through holes k.
The guide rail 8 is installed to the inner panel 1 as shown in FIG. 8. Specifically, the upper and lower ends of the guide rail 8 are attached to the inner panel 1 via rail bracket 11 in such a manner as to float so that the door 6 can move up and down smoothly. Thereby, the glass mounting portion 8b can slide in the guide rail 8 so as to follow the elevating path of the curved glass 6.
After the glass elevating mechanism 7 and the like are mounted in the door space 3 as described above, a sealing screen 13 is affixed to substantially the whole area of the inner panel 1 to close the openings 4 by the sealing screen 13. After that, a door trim 14 is installed to the inner panel 1 by using trim clips 14a or partially using screws or the like.
However, in the conventional automotive door construction configured as described above, the plural openings 4 provided in the inner panel 1 cannot be formed as too large openings from the viewpoint of the rigidity of the door construction provided by the inner panel 1.
For this reason, the installation of the glass elevating mechanism 7 to the inside of the inner panel 1 requires work in which while the glass elevating mechanism 7 is held by one hand of the worker inserted into the opening 4, the attachment holes la and 8a are caused to coincide with each other and screws are put into the holes by the other hand, by which the glass elevating mechanism 7 is fixed to the inner panel 1 by using a power tool. In this installation work, not only the insertion of the screw into the attachment hole 8a requires blind work, but also the holding of the glass elevating mechanism 7 with a considerably heavy weight performed by one hand requires very difficult work. Also, since the guide rail 8 and the motor 10 are connected to each other by the wire 9, the handling of the glass elevating mechanism 7 in the door space 3 is very inconvenient. Thus, the installation work is done under a considerably bad condition.
Further, since the inner panel 1 is provided with only small openings 4 to prevent a decrease in rigidity thereof, which increases the weight significantly, causing hindrance to the decrease in weight of the automotive door construction.
Also, the installation of the glass 6 to the guide rails 8 requires work in which the worker inserts the glass 6 gripped by one hand through the upper opening 5 of the door space 3, holds the lower end of the glass 6 by the other hand, makes the holes x in the glass mounting portions 8b and the holes y in the lower end mounting portions 6a of the glass 6 coincide with each other, and fixes the glass 6 using screws or the like by inserting a screwdriver through the through holes k. This glass installation work is also blind work inevitably, so that the workability is low in this respect as well.
Further, in the conventional construction, the elevating unit, harness, trim, and the like are installed with the vehicle body panel being a base. Therefore, it is necessary to provide clearances in laying out these elements, so that the volume of a door pocket and a joint portion cannot be increased greatly, which places restrictions on the degree of freedom of design and the ease of use of the pocket and an armrest.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide an automotive door construction which significantly increases the workability of installing a glass elevating mechanism and the like and the degree of freedom of interior layout.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an automotive door construction configured so that a door space is formed by joining outer edges of an outer panel and an inner panel, and the inner panel side of the door space is finely dressed up with a door trim, wherein the door trim is made up of two divided trims of an upper trim and a lower trim; at least a glass elevating mechanism is installed on the side of the lower trim in advance by subassembling; the upper and lower end portions of a guide rail constituting the glass elevating mechanism project from the upper and lower end side of the lower trim; the guide rail is connected to the inner panel in a state of being disposed in the door space so as to lie across an opening, which is formed in the central portion of the inner panel and is open to the door space, and the lower trim is mounted to the inner panel; and after a door glass moved up and down by the glass elevating mechanism is installed to the guide rail, the upper trim is mounted to the inner panel.
According to the present invention, the elevating unit, trim, harness, and the like are subassembled, and are mounted collectively to a vehicle body panel. For this purpose, a large opening is provided in the vehicle body panel, so that installation work done by inserting the glass elevating mechanism can be performed by utilizing this large opening, by which the installation workability can be improved greatly.
Also, according to the present invention, the door trim is made up of two divided trims of the upper trim and the lower trim, and after at least the glass elevating mechanism is subassembled to the lower trim, the subassembly is installed to the inner panel, and then the door glass is installed to the glass elevating mechanism, thereafter the upper trim being mounted to the inner panel. Therefore, the installation work of the door glass to the door elevating mechanism can be done by using the opening, which is open large because the installation work is done before the upper trim is mounted, so that the installation work of the door glass is easy to do, and moreover a larger-sized door glass can also be installed.
Also, in the present invention, the subassembly of the glass elevating mechanism to the lower trim is at least a subassembly in which the guide rail is assembled to a pocket back cover constituting a pocket of the lower trim.
Also, in the present invention, an extended attachment element is formed integrally at the upper part of the pocket back cover, and a motor constituting the glass elevating mechanism is mounted on the extended attachment element.
By this configuration, a load applied to the motor to activate the glass elevating mechanism is distributed in the plane direction of the extended attachment element, so that the vibrations of the motor are not transmitted to the door trim itself.
Also, in order to mount the motor directly to the door trim, a mounting boss must be erected on the door trim. In this embodiment, the motor is not mounted to the door trim, but is mounted on the extended attachment element formed by extending the pocket back cover. Therefore, a sink problem occurring in molding the door trim, caused by the formation of the mounting boss, can be solved.
Also, in the present invention, the extended attachment element is installed to the inner panel. Therefore, the extended attachment element is attached to the inner panel by using screws or the like. By this configuration, the rigidity of the door trim, especially the lower trim, can be increased, so that the behavior of the motor at the time when the door is closed can be retrained completely.
Also, in the present invention, the guide rail is fixed to the upper part of the lower trim. If the area of the opening in the inner panel is increased, there arise considerable restrictions on the installation of the door trim itself to the inner panel. However, in the present invention configured as described above, since the upper part of the lower trim is fixed to the guide rail whose upper and lower ends are attached to the inner panel, the lower trim is resultantly attached to the inner panel, so that the above-described restrictions are eliminated. Also, just at the upper part of the lower trim exists an armrest, and the armrest is fitted with a pull handle. A load applied when the pull handle is operated is transmitted to and supported by the guide rail, so that the displacement of the door trim can be decreased greatly.
Also, in the present invention, the guide rail and the lower trim are fixed to each other so as to be finely adjustable in the longitudinal and vertical directions of a vehicle body. By this configuration, the guide rail is installed with the inner panel being the reference. In this case, variations in installation of the guide rail to the lower trim can be absorbed by finely adjusting the guide rail and the lower trim in the longitudinal and vertical directions of the vehicle body.